Consuming baked or broiled fish at least once a week can boost older people's brain health and significantly reduce Alzheimer's risk.
Brain scans suggest that people who regularly eat fish may lose fewer nerve cells in brain regions that are responsible for short term memory.
University of Pittsburgh researchers studied 260 people with an average age of 71 who were cognitively normal at the start of the study.
In 1989 and 1990 they were asked how much fish they ate and 10 years later underwent MRI scans of the brain as well as cognitive testing.
Five years after the 3-D MRI, 30.8 percent of patients who had low fish intake had developed mild cognitive impairment or dementia, compared with just 3.2 percent who had the highest fish intake and the greatest preservation of brain volume.
47 percent of non-fish eaters also had abnormal cognition five years later compared with 28 percent of those who ate more fish and had more gray matter volume.
The findings which were presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America also showed that people who consume baked or broiled fish on a weekly basis had a greater volume of gray matter in their brain regions associated with Alzheimer's disease.
“Fish consumption benefits gray matter volume, potentially reducing the risk of [Alzheimer's disease and dementia] long-term," said lead author Dr. Cyrus Raji.
“Consuming baked or broiled fish promotes stronger neurons in the brain's grey matter by making them larger and healthier,” he added. “This simple lifestyle choice increases the brain's resistance to Alzheimer's disease and lowers risk for the disorder.”
SJM/TE